Closest You Have Been To A Prog Great

Jon Anderson gave my brother a cookie  But I haven't met anyone

Edited by White Queen

fastandbulbous wrote: I once met Tommy Shaw of Styx, although I really don't consider them to be prog.  Or great for that matter.  Or even good.

I never met Tommy Shaw in person, but several people he worked with in the studio have screamed at me over the phone before.


Edited by Empathy

I've had some stimulating chats with Ed Wynne and John Egan of Ozric Tentacles. 

Well my name is written Maja but its pronounced Maia. Do you know what song i mean? i think its called baying of the hounds

And yes i thought it sonded like Down in the deep maaaaaaaaaia at first too...whatever that means

Listen to it!

Ed_The_Dead wrote: Lindsay Lohan wrote: Do ye know what James Labrie sings to warm up his voice? Ma-a-a-a-i-i-aaaa... Feel its something special? A dedication maybe?

Ah and on ghost reveries Mikael Akersfeldt sings: Drown in the deep ma-a-a-i-i-aaaa...i should really sue them for using my name

I saw Jethro Tull last Thursday

I sat right in the back aisle in the middle.. I couldn't have been any further away from Ian Anderson since the theater had a bowed back wall! But it was close enough...

Yesterday I had a work meeting with Topi Lehtipuu, the opera singer who used to be the vocalist with Höyry-kone.

I touched James LaBrie during the Poznan gig... TWICE!(Hes got a cool Majesty Signet on his hand)

I had shake hand with van der Graaf Generator in 1975 at a signature event for the release of Godbluff, in Brussels. (Hammill, Evans, Banton, Jackson). As a souvenir, I have the original LP versions of H to He and Pawn Hearts signed by the four.

I discussed a few moments with Tangerine Dream (early version) back in 1970,

I discussed with Yes (Anderson, White, Howe and Squire) giving an unplugged short concert at the FNAC record shop in Paris, a couple of years ago (we were 30 to attend)

I once found myself in the same hotel than Supertramp and Marillion.

And I met several times various belgian "chamber prog" musicians when I was living in Brussels (not to forget going to school with Marc Ysaye)

Not that bad, finally.

right here's my ultimate, highly embarassing and
personally not very benefitting fanboy-story:

i've met quite a few prog greats, mostly just for a
quick chat or an autograph, but meeting the boys
from MARILLION on the "radiation" tour was very
special. i am a die-hard fan of them and i have
followed them through all their musical phases and
experimentations and, yes, pun very much intended,
progressed with them as a listener but also as a
human being.

"radiation" is still an iffy album for them and their fan
base and the entire period was certainly not the
happiest time in the life of the band MARILLION. the
reasons are well documented elsewhere. anyway,
they played their show in the club "docks" on the
reeperbahn in hamburg – to a slightly reduced crowd
than usual, i must add – but they delivered an
exciting, fresh and very stubborn set that was all
about reinvention and moving forward.

a friend of mine who worked for the local office of
their then record company was also at the concert
and after the show, when i basically turned to collect
my coat, she beckoned me over (knowing me and
my appreciation of MARILLION), basically saying
"you're not going anywhere". so, off we were into the
hallowed halls of the grubby "docks" backstage area!

well, you all know, what it is like to meet personal
heroes and icons, whatever. you always come out
afterwards, feeling a bit jilted or shortchanged,
mostly on one's personal account by imagining not
having asked the right questions or said the right
words. it is also well known that all of MARILLION
are really down-to-earth and friendly blokes, so this
was going to be a real no-brainer. obviously it gets
even better when the first thing that mark kelly does
is to hand over a bottle of beer! i got to talk to every
single band member and all of them were very
accomodating and genuinely interested in my
opinions on them (and i am always critical as well)
and were eager to talk about all sorts of things and i
am still grateful for this unique insight into the five
men's personalitied that make up the best band on
the planet. fanboy? so what!

however – here's the catch. my left pocket was full of
CD-booklets that i had originally intended to get
signed by them. imagine how stupid i would have
felt, after having exchanged so much more than just
harmless chit-chat and the ususal fan-grovelling and
feeling genuinely welcomed by them after a very
tiring and demanding gig in this rather bleak period
in the band's life, if i had pulled out these
CD-booklets and asking for a meagre autograph? it
would have been the ultimately disrepectful
anti-climax for all involved and i would very possibly
have hung myself afterwards –

so – h, steve, mark, ian, pete – i (still) salute you!!!


PS: another good experience on several occasions:
geoffrey downes – always eager to meet up with
fans and always in for a laugh or a beer! wonder how
that ASIA reunion is going to affect that...